Cannes 2025: Spike Lee confirms ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ premiere despite line-up announcement exclusion
Director Spike Lee has confirmed that his new movie, Highest 2 Lowest, will premiere out of competition next month at the Cannes Film Festival.
Earlier today (April 10th), Cannes unveiled the list of films to be shown at the prestigious annual event next month. However, Highest 2 Lowest was not included in the announcement, which led Lee to confirm the news himself.
The movie will borrow its story from the 1963 film High and Low, directed by Akira Kurosawa, and is set to feature a star-studded cast, including A$AP Rocky, Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice and Ilfenesh Hadera.
On Instagram, Lee announced the premiere alongside an image of a patch that reads, ‘Highes 2 Lowest 2 Cannes’. His caption says: “Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup❓Da New SPIKE LEE JOINT-HIGHEST 2 LOWEST Starring My Brother DENZEL WASHINGTON Has Been Invited To Da 2025 CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In The Out Of Competition Category).
Although the upcoming movie is an adaptation of Kurosawa’s classic, Lee has maintained that it’s an original film. “This is not a remake,” Lee clarified to Deadline last year, “this is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s great film.”
The director also acknowledged one significant change to the plot of the film, sharing his plans to shift the occupation of its main character from executive at a shoe company to music industry boss.
“In Kurowasa’s film,” he explained, “Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film, Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.”
Highest 2 Lowest is set for release in cinemas at some point later this year but a specific date is yet to be revealed.
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